Kirsty Powell, a Muslim woman from California has filed a complaint against the Long Beach city and police department, claiming that police officers forcibly removed her headscarf after arresting her. After being pulled over in May last year, she was arrested on two outstanding warrants and taken to the police station, where she alleges one police officer took off her headscarf in view of other male officers and inmates, telling her she was “not allowed to wear her hijab” and that policemen were “allowed to touch women.”

Yalda Satar, attorney for the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) which filed the suit, said: “The manner in which Mrs Powell was treated by LBPD officers was simply a show of authority over a woman of color who was unable to protect herself, and is another example of the type of discrimination faced by women who wear a hijab.”

Their lawsuit claims that result of her experience, Powell has “suffered and continues to suffer extreme shame, humiliation, mental anguish and emotional distress,” and is requesting a jury trial and unspecified compensatory damages. The Long Beach police department or city officials did not comment on the case.